Leicester Dominates Midlands Comedy Awards 2015

Leicester Dominates Midlands Comedy Awards 2015

Monday 7th Dec 2015: Performers and venues from Leicester dominate the list of finalists for this year’s Midlands Comedy Awards, with a total of eighteen nominations across ten categories. It’s a record haul for the city that plays host to an annual comedy festival sponsored by TV channel Dave.

Leicester comedians Jason Neale, Lucy Thompson and Daniel Nicholas have received two nods each, Bruce Edhouse is recognized three times, while Ian Hall is a finalist in four different categories. Furthermore, Leicester’s comedy venues have managed to secure eight nominations on the shortlist of finalists.

Previously, the Midlands Comedy Awards have been dominated by the Birmingham and Black Country region, with a much smaller representation for East Midlands comedians and comedy clubs. However, this year’s awards have seen a huge increase in nominations for Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Speaking on behalf of Comedy and Cocktails, one of the finalists for Best Small Club, Dave McGuckin commented: “I’m overjoyed that Comedy & Cocktails at Manhattan34 has been nominated, as it’s very much a labour of love to me – but it’s also beyond wonderful that Leicester’s comedy scene is so strongly represented in this years’ nominations. To have all four of the city’s monthly comedy nights represented in the nominations, a host of our great venues and a wide selection of Leicester’s own individual comedic talent is huge. Leicester’s comedy circuit is very much a community, forever supporting each other and working hard to ensure every show has great line-ups and great audiences, and it’s nice to see that hard work being recognised in the Midlands Comedy Awards.”

Lucy Thompson, who is nominated for Breakthrough Act and for her TOAD Radio podcast, commented: “The Leicester comedy scene is one of the most vibrant, friendly and more importantly supportive comedy scenes you could want to be part of and the fact that so many talented and hardworking members of it have been recognised is lovely.”

Thomas Rackham and Lucy Thompson – hosts of TOAD Radio

Bruce Edhouse – a finalist in the Best Alternative, Online Comedy and Best Open Mic Show categories – said: “It’s smashing that lots of us have been nominated, a lot of which is down to the loyal and comedy-savvy audiences we get. We’re very lucky to be able to go out there and try new and sometimes totally odd things on them!”

Alex Hylton, who operates The Exchange venue nominated for Best Small Club, commented: “It’s great to see how Leicester’s comedy scene has grown in the last couple of years. It’s still a developing scene, but it’s already offering a wide variety of alternative, mainstream, experienced, junior comedy that makes it all the more exciting to work in Leicester.”

Double-nominee Jason Neale added: “Being part of the Leicester comedy scene is great. There’s a huge range of experience across the acts, from newcomers to well-established, award winners. Acts are highly supportive of each other, offering guidance and advice when it’s requested. There’s a real sense of community amongst the Leicester crowd and it’s always, most importantly, a good laugh to be around each other.”

Voting for the Midlands Comedy Awards 2015 is open until the end of the year, and members of the public can take part by visiting www.midlandscomedy.org/vote

The winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony in Birmingham on Wednesday the 20th of January 2016.

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Note for Editors

Further information about the Midlands Comedy Awards can be found at the website www.midlandscomedy.org or by contacting the Awards’ Director Jay Islaam (hello@jayislaam.com).

David McGuckin – email: M34comedy (at) outlook.com

Lucy Thompson – email: lucyvivthomo (at) gmail.com

Bruce Edhouse – email: magicbaboon (at) hotmail.com

Ian Hall – email: ianhall1964 (at) hotmail.com

Daniel Nicholas – danielnicholas (at) blueyonder.co.uk

Alex Hylton – alexhylton (at) btinternet.com

Jason Neale – jason.m.neale (at) gmail.com

Please contact any of the above directly for photos, logos or interview requests.